Oscar Got It Wrong!: Best Actresss 2010

The Contenders:

Natalie Portman: Black Swan (winner)
Michelle Williams: Blue Valentine
Annette Bening: The Kids are All Right
Nicole Kidman: Rabbit Hole
Jennifer Lawrence: Winter’s Bone

Oscar Got It Wrong!: Best Picture 2010

The Contenders:

127 Hours
Black Swan
The Fighter
Inception
The Kids are All Right
The King’s Speech (winner)
The Social Network
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Winter’s Bone

Oscar Got It Wrong!: Best Adapted Screenplay 2010

The Contenders:

127 Hours
The Social Network (winner)
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Winter’s Bone

Meth: It Does a Body Good

Film: Winter’s Bone
Format: DVD from Rockford Public Library on rockin’ flatscreen.

The only thing I knew about Winter’s Bone going in was that Jennifer Lawrence starred in the film and that it was her first Oscar nomination. Well, I knew that and also knew that almost everyone who had seen it had liked it. In a very strange way, Winter’s Bone reminds me of Eastern Promises. It’s not that the two are similar in plot. It’s just that both of them are the most depressing movies with a hopeful ending I can think of. Nothing good happens to anyone in either film, and yet both end on something like an up note.

Ree Dolly (Jennifer Lawrence) is 17-year-old with an adult’s responsibilities. Her mother is mentally ill, which forces Ree into the position of tending to her younger brother Sonny (Isaiah Stone) and sister Ashlee (Ashlee Thompson). Ree does the best she can, which really isn’t all that well. She does her best to keep the kids fed and clothed, but having to do everything at such a young age has left a lot to be desired. It doesn’t help that her father is serving time for cooking meth. Jessup Dolly is out on bail, but his whereabouts are unknown. Since he put up the house and woods behind it as collateral, if he misses his court date, Ree and her family will lose the house. The local sheriff (Garrett Dillahunt) is sympathetic to Ree’s plight, but there’s not much he can do.